Elephant celebrations will return to Twycross Zoo this weekend as part of World Elephant Day.

Twycross Zoo will hold the celebrations over two days, Saturday and Sunday 12-13 August, during which visitors can participate in elephant-themed activities and games - as well as the chance to enter a prize draw to win a family ticket to the Zoo.

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Twycross Zoo has four female Asian elephants, and in the naturalistic ‘Elephant Creek’ visitors can see how elephants form herds that are led by the oldest and largest female.

At the zoo, this is Mimbu’s role and she is often seen to be taking care of the others in her family herd and making decisions for the group.

On the other hand, the youngest of the group, three-year old Esha is the most playful elephant and is always keen to use her trunk in exploration.

There are now less than 40,000 Asian elephants in the wild

Asian elephants, one of the two surviving species, range across 13 countries in the wild, but in the last 50 years their habitat has shrunk by over 70 per cent - and there are now less than 40,000 remaining individuals worldwide.

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Miguel Bueno, Curator of Living Collections, said: “Our Ele-Celebrations aim to highlight the plight of elephants and raise awareness about these endangered species. The threat to elephants is a global issue and we need to cooperate across countries to encourage their conservation.

"Although many people admire elephants, few know about their importance in helping maintain the ecosystems in forests and grasslands. Ele-Celebrations at Twycross Zoo provide a fun and entertaining day out at the zoo, whilst educating our visitors about the role of elephants in the world and showing them why they should care about these animals.”

Twycross Zoo is open to the public from 10am to 6pm. For more information call 0844 474 1777, or visit www.twycrosszoo.org .